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List Price: $14.99 | | Label: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Salesrank: 6802
Released: March 8, 2005 |
| Our Price: $2.99 |
| Used Price: $0.45 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A fire fighter trapped in a high rise fire recalls his life and career while awaiting rescue.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 7-FEB-2006
Media Type: DVD
Description of Ladder 49 (Widescreen Edition):
In paying simple tribute to firefighters, Ladder 49 gets to the heart of those who risk their lives for a living. Director Jay Russell brought similar sincerity to his memorable family favorite My Dog Skip, and despite the banalities of an ultra-conventional screenplay by Lewis Colick, Ladder 49 generates so much goodwill toward its Baltimore firemen that you may find yourself unexpectedly overcome with emotional appreciation for guys like Jack (Joaquin Phoenix), a firefighter whose career, courtship, marriage, and fatherhood are viewed in flashback as he struggles to survive in the present-day framing scenes, cut off from his fellow firemen in the fiery guts of a collapsing 20-floor building. There are no surprises in the familiar scenes of male bonding, dangerous rescues, injury and death, and the supportive concern of Jack's wife (Jacinda Barrett), but by focusing on the simple integrity of Jack's personal and professional commitment, the movie gives Phoenix a showcase for unselfish virtue, while John Travolta provides dignified support as Jack's mentor and devoted firehouse captain. Ladder 49 is routine in most respects, but it's a much-deserved valentine to working-class heroes. --Jeff Shannon
Ladder 49 (Widescreen Edition) Reviews:
ladder 49 
2008-09-07 - As always I was very pleased with my movie purchase. I will continue to order all my movies from amazon. I always receive my movies in a timely manner.
Thank you amazon, liza schaafsma
Ladder 49 
2008-08-25 - My son actually is the one who loves this movie. He is bound and determined to be a firefighter and uses this movie as his practice guide. He pretty much knows the entire script and calls himself Jack Morrison when he is in the role. Great movie!
Predictable, cliche-ridden, melodrama 
2008-06-04 - What a shame that the first post-9/11 movie about firefighters is this utterly predictable, cliche-ridden, melodrama. You can see the plot twists coming at you from a mile away. Yes, we all appreciate and acknowledge the very dangerous work that our firemen do. But they deserve much better than this contrived, poorly conceived piece of propaganda. For a more realistic depiction of what it's like to live the life of a fireman, watch an episode or two of Dennis Leary's "Rescue Me".
Next time you see a firefighter say thanks
2008-05-19 - "Ladder 49" gives those of us who've never stood close to the fire a peek at the lives of those underpaid and overworked civil servants who go out every day -- and may not return.
This is primarily a strong emotional drama about the bond between brothers (and sisters) in the service, not so much an action adventure or disaster film. The story details the career of Jack (Phoenix) as he comes in a rookie Baltimore firefighter, meets his captain (Travolta), loses friends and gains a wife (Barrett).
Joaquin Phoenix is one of the strongest actors of his generation. He can depict more with a gesture or two than many other actors can with an entire soliloquy. When he puts on the coat and the turnout boots, you forget he's an actor and think he's a firefighter in peril.
WARNING: you need a box of tissues next to you while you are watching this film. It will pull on your heart and yes--make you want to thank the next firefighters you see.
Rebecca Kyle, May 2008
Not much of a plot, but worth watching as a family film 
2008-04-15 - I just saw Ladder 49 and I was kind of expecting a grittier more intense film, but this is quite the opposite. Instead, it is an in-depth look at the life of firefighter Jack Morrisson played by Joaquin Phoenix. It's the usual story of struggle to success, to tragedy, and finally one of hope as the credits begin to roll. Ladder 49 is a family film made for all the firefighters out there. It has it's predictable moments as family films tend to have. It has the firefighter who dies in the beginning, another one who gets badly injured, and the hero who sets the tone at the end. It's your typical firefighter genre film that seems a little repetitive and truly does not stand out as a classic film for years to come. As I said, don't expect this to be a gritty film ala Backdraft, but it does have it's moments that put a smile on your face. It's a movie void of a definitive plot, but about the lifespan of what a firefighter might deal with in his career. We are put in the driver's seat of one firefighter as he takes us through when he first arrives at the firehouse, till his ultimate challenge towards the end. And that's really the film in a nutshell.
They could have made a backstory as well(drugs, crooked firefighter) to keep the pace up and intrigue the audience a bit, but I believe the director clearly wanted to make this film about firefighting in general and the rollercoaster of emotions one particular firefighter and those close to him might go through on the job. Overall, it's a good family film with a sad ending that may or may not be suitable for pre-teens or anyone who has lost a relative fighting fires, without giving too much of the ending away.
